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Good Sunday morning Uni Watchers. It’s time for your Sunday Morning Uni Watch. We’re already up to Week 11, which means the Conference Championships and Bowls are just around the corner. Time for the contenders for the CFP to separate from the pretenders. Pretty much everyone held serve yesterday, so don’t look for much change atop the CFP standings come Tuesday.
After a relatively quiet couple of weeks on the college football costume front, we had a bunch of different looks yesterday, including venerable THE #1 ranked Ohio State University, who debuted a new mono-gray look yesterday. We knew this was coming for a while, and Paul had all the details way back in July.
Most times, when a new uniform (or jersey, helmet, etc.) is unveiled, we often couch our criticisms by saying, “I’ll need to see it on the field before I render a final opinion” — but this uniform was one of those you pretty much knew how they’d look. And yeah, the Scarlet and gray — head to toe in almost all cases — dominated the uniform. If you re-read Paul’s article you’ll notice he included a photo of the one other time OSU went mono-gray. At the time, I didn’t particularly like that look as it was completely void of any scarlet. This time around, the team basically did a white for gray color swap on their normal road whites. Unfortunately, this didn’t nearly look as good since (especially on long shots) the red numbers faded into the gray jerseys. The red NOBs were almost unreadable. Up close, the numbers were fine, but with the shadows in some spots, they were a bit tough to make out.
The other problem — as least to me — was the fact that almost every player went full mono-gray. Full mono-anything (except perhaps all black) never looks quite right.
Just like the alternate all scarlet uniforms would have looked better with gray socks, so too would last night’s have looked with some scarlet socks. Fortunately, Cade Stover gave us a look at that.
Much better. But the “bodysuit” look is now a thing — both in college and in the pros — so we’ll just have to wait until this fashion statement itself becomes passé.
OK — that’s enough from me. Here’s TJ with the rest of your …
• • • • •
Sunday Morning Uni Watch by Terry Duroncelet, Jr.
I was somehow convinced to participate in my work’s fashion show on Saturday, and I hope that video of me walking the runway never surfaces. Also, Week 11 on the 11th day of the 11th month! Wow! How ’bout that!
• Kent State/Bowling Green: Remember last week, when the Golden Flashes lived up to their name? Looks like the light bulb burned out this week. Also note the second of MANY (and I mean many) demonstrations for Veterans Day weekend (the actual holiday falling on a Saturday this time).
• Toledo/Eastern Michigan: It’s not super-apparent from this shot, but Toledo wore these helmets on Wednesday night.
__________
From Thursday:
• Louisville/Virginia: WELP. Maybe Alabama should drop “Bama” and start using “The Loosa” (…actually, I take that back, that sounds incredibly unfortunate). Here’s that helmet close-up, by the way.
__________
From Friday:
• SMU/North Texas: Here comes the BFBS train, and SMU’s on-board.
__________
From Satursday:
• Oregon State/Stanford: Camo numbers for the Beavers.
• There were several demonstrations for Veterans Day, including (but definitely not limited to): Iowa, Illinois, South Florida, Liberty (why am I not surprised?), Appalachian State, Middle Tennessee, UAB (who ironically wore this against Navy), South Alabama (the only good one, since there’s actual lore behind this), and LSU. I know FOR SURE there were more teams, but I think you guys get the point here.
• Syracuse/Pitt: Ignoring the whole “AKTUALLY, the current Yankee Stadium is a mere 14 years-old, NOT 100 like the original Yankee Stadium would be if it were still standing” voice playing in the back of all of our heads, Syracuse and Pitt played yesterday’s game at Yankee Stadium, and the Orange wore a decal for the occasion.
• FAU/East Carolina: BROOTAL BFBS alts for the Owls. Like, HOLY SHIT, these are bad.
• Oklahoma/West Virginia: EVEN MORE BROOTAL GFGS alts for Oklahoma. They remind me of pencil lead, except the difference is that pencil lead is actually useful!
• Central Arkansas/EKU: The rare FCS mention! Leo Strawn Jr. writes: “Central Arkansas beat EKU on a Hail Mary. This is the eyesore they play on. There ought to be a law.” I concur (and one more S&S helmet decal for good measure).
• • • • •
Thanks, Terry! Now onto the rest of today’s features.
Canadian University Uni Watch
Returning for 2023 is Canadian University Uni Watcher Wade Heidt, who will bring us some looks at three-down, 110-yard Canadian university football from up north. That’s Wade to the right side of your screen (you can even click to enlarge). The shirt Wade is wearing was created by the one and only Wafflebored! Wade’s rundown will appear every week on SMUW until the season ends.
Enjoy!
• • • • •
Canadian University Uni Watch by Wade Heidt
What time is it? Time for some university football uniform watching Canadian rules style! It’s time for the CUUW!
Only 8 teams remained on Saturday to continue the battle for the Vanier Cup. The 4 conference finals were played.
Often nothing unusual with regards to the uniforms when it comes to playoff time. However, it has been unpredictable this year. It is not often that we see half of the conference final games as colour vs. colour. The CUUW will journey from east to west as it always promises to do.
Loney Bowl (Atlantic) in Antigonish, NS.
• The winner of the Loney Bowl is awarded the Jewett Trophy. The St. Francis Xavier X-Men went with their common navy over navy combo at home. The visiting Bishop’s Gaiters wore white over white. The X-Men won and remain undefeated. A 3rd consecutive AUS title for St. FX.
• It was the usual schools in the RSEQ championship game. The 10th consecutive Coupe Dunsmore with these schools. Montreal and Laval. Concordia got close last week by getting to overtime but could not close the deal.
This was a colour vs. colour matchup. The Montreal Carabins went really blue this week. Their mono-blue combo from head to toe at home. The Laval Rouge et Or wore their gold/red/gold combo. The boys in blue were the winners this year.
• Likely not a game Paul would enjoy watching. The 2 best teams in Ontario wear purple. The Western Mustangs wearing their usual purple over purple home combo. The Laurier Golden Hawks wore their white/white/purple combo. Western captured their third consecutive Yates Cup.
• UBC Thunderbird Stadium hosted the 86th Hardy Cup. You may think you have never seen this stadium but it is possible you may have. If you watched the Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum romantic comedy “She’s the Man” and some other shows on the TV screen, then you have seen this stadium.
Now only 4 schools left. Next weekend we will get the treat of seeing the conference champs playing each in the Mitchell Bowl and Uteck Bowl national semifinals.
• • • • •
Thanks, Wade! Great stuff and loving the playoff coverage!
Five and One
Jimmer Vilk’s 5 & 1
Welcome to the Five and One for 2023!
Once again, Jim “Jimmer” Vilk (the original “5 & 1” decider) has returned.
The original concept of the 5 & 1 was simple: Jim picked five good matchups and one awful matchup. He’s still calling the project “5 & 1” but with a new twist.
You may agree and you may disagree — these are, after all, just opinions and everyone has one. Feel free to let him know what you think in the comments section.
If you have a game you feel is “worthy” of consideration for the 5 & 1, please either post it in the comments below or tweet Mr. Vilk @JVfromOhio.
Another team got it horribly wrong, as you’ll see at the end.
• The only thing as ridiculous as glow-in-the-dark jerseys is a Dirty Dancing celebration that looked a little too dirty. [Credit to Rex Henry for the photo]
___________
OK, onto The Five, beginning with…
5. The “Not-So-Clean” Matchup:
Vanderbilt/South Carolina
I don’t mind almost-mono vs almost-mono, especially when the unis get a little dirty!
__________
4. The “Classic, Baby… Classic” Matchup:
Miami/Florida State
A nice autumnal-looking game from a region that isn’t known for leaf peeping.
__________
3. The “Welcome To The Good Side Of The List, Aztecs!” Game:
San Diego State/Colorado State
It’s too early for Christmas music on the radio, but a properly done red/green matchup is always in season!
__________
2. The “I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying” Game:
Michigan/Penn State
Although it didn’t bring tears to my eyes, I love the stuffing out of this matchup.
__________
1. Simply The Best:
Pitt/Syracuse/Yankee Stadium
Now let’s get the Giants to move back there!
__________
&1. The “Say It With Me, Terry…Contrast Matters” Game:
West Virginia/Oklahoma
Too much between the two teams, and too little on OU’s uni.
__________
See you next week!
• • • • •
Thanks, Jim! OK readers? What say you? Agree or disagree with Jimmer’s selections? Let him know in the comments below.
Power 5 and Duck Tracking
Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by college football conferences. New this year is Zachary Wooldridge, who is tracking the SEC. And joining the SMUW crew to track the Big XII is Matt Tomelleri, so we again have all Power Five conferences tracked this season.
Long-time trackers Rex Henry (tracking the ACC and the B1G this year), and Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12) are returning for another season. Following the tracking, Dennis again returns with his Duck Tracking (which is the longest continuously-running feature on SMUW!).
Welcome to the 2023 Oregon Ducks Uni Tracker. This little project was originally begun way back in 2008-09 by Michael Princip, who retired after several seasons, whereupon the project was continued by Tim E. O’Brien. He, too, retired from the tracking, but the project has been ably kept up by the man who also tracks the Pac12, Dennis Bolt.
…that’s it for today. As always, a giant “THANKS!” to the entire SMUW Crew: Terry Duroncelet, Wade Heidt, Jimmer Vilk, Rex Henry, Dennis Bolt, Zach Wooldridge and Matt Tomelleri. Stellar work as always!
Everyone have a good Sunday and enjoy the games today — starting with the early game in Frankfurt. Here’s hoping the Patriots bring back the silver-gray pants!
Although Paul is on vacation, he will have his usual lede articles on Monday and Tuesday, but if there’s any breaking uni news either day, I’ll be filling in. So I’ll probably be back tomorrow. Till then…
I’m glad Purdue wore pants this week. It improved their play against Minnesota yesterday.
I agree with Phil. So tired of the “mono-tard” look. I hope it goes away. But, from the look of things, it’s here to stay. For some reason, the younger generation doesn’t like contrast.
I’m torn between Pitt/Syracuse or Miami/Florida State as the best looking game. Really like Pitt with the blue britches. And now that Florida State has gone back to the more traditional look, they are pretty classy looking.
So many bad looks yesterday! I can’t complain with Jimmer’s &1. But do we judge OU worse because their regular unis are so glorious?? Louisville were bad on so many levels, most stupidly because their numbers and decal were glow in the dark. The plastic piping doesn’t help.
FAU’s were awfully awful.
Cruella “The Ville”. Weak sauce.
But do we judge OU worse because their regular unis are so glorious??
Absolutely.
In fact, I had Bowling Green/Kent State as my &1 until I saw WVU/OU. I expect this kind of dreck from the MAC, not from two big time schools with classic looks.
Kentucky debuted all-grey uniforms with blue helmets vs Alabama yesterday (image in the tweet):
First time UK had worn light grey since 2015 (we wore anthracite from 2016-2022)
First time breaking out the new grey jerseys or pants (debuted a new uniform set this season)
First time I think we’ve worn all-grey unis with blue helmets since the 2015 Georgia game. We typically paired grey jerseys with blue pants and vice versa in the old uni set that last featured light grey.
Maybe it’s the lighting- no, it’s the uniforms, but I think San Diego State/Colorado State should be the &1. Those colors are just too dark.
And West Virginia looked perfectly fine, but they shouldn’t be dragged down with Oklahoma’s University of Houston Tribute set.
This may have been the worst looking overall week of the season. So much dreary gray, bfbs, and s&s camo nonsense. Those things Louisville and Oklahoma wore were abominations. But on the good side, I agree Syracuse – Pitt looked great, Miami – FSU looked like Miami – FSU, Arkansas – Auburn was a beauty, and I actually love Clemson in purple (but with white or orange pants).
And what is going on with Kansas? This is the second time this season they’ve worn the red jerseys from their old set. I don’t recall any team introducing (really nice) new uniforms and then continuing to mix in the (crappy) old ones. It’s weird.
I don’t know about Kansas *specifically,* but it’s very likely their contract with adidas stipluates they *only* get three new uniforms this season (they introduced new white, blue and black). Other schools have riders like this in their contracts as well. Unlike the pros, who PAY Nike to provide their uniforms, colleges actually get paid to wear a certain brand (in return for lots of perks, like exclusive branding rights, tickets to games, etc.). So, I am going to assume Kansas had to choose between a black alternate or a red alternate this season. It’s quite possible they will receive new red uniforms next season.
Kansas is currently in the middle of a 14 year contract agreement with adidas. link.
I’m sure somewhere in that contract there is a stipulation about the number of times the school can request new uniform designs and how many different options/upgrades are available.
Ohio State and Colorado got gray right.
Another team got it horribly wrong
In my haste to finish last night before my battery died, I failed to mention that Army got it really right and Miami OH got it really wrong.
Love the Cadet look for Army.
All grey uniforms suck
Lions and Chargers both wearing white pants today. Unacceptable.
I can accept Detroit wearing them with the new blue helmet. Never with the silver one.
Chargers, no matter what color helmet you wear…Never. Wear. White. Pants.
Absolutely. The Chargers shouldn’t even have the option of white pants.
FSU/Miami looked gorgeous as always. Plus the final score was amazing.
sdsu vs csu is soo nice.
Yesterday looked more like Halloween than two weeks ago. So much BFBS/GFGS. Yikes.
Not a good looking weekend at all. It bolsters my notion that today’s players love the leotard mono look, preferably in all white or all black with as little details or contrasting color accents as possible. I will have to wait for the next generation who may long for more colorful uniforms.
Yes first time Maryland wore white helmets this season
I’m glad Purdue wore pants this week. It improved their play against Minnesota yesterday.
I agree with Phil. So tired of the “mono-tard” look. I hope it goes away. But, from the look of things, it’s here to stay. For some reason, the younger generation doesn’t like contrast.
I’m torn between Pitt/Syracuse or Miami/Florida State as the best looking game. Really like Pitt with the blue britches. And now that Florida State has gone back to the more traditional look, they are pretty classy looking.
So many bad looks yesterday! I can’t complain with Jimmer’s &1. But do we judge OU worse because their regular unis are so glorious?? Louisville were bad on so many levels, most stupidly because their numbers and decal were glow in the dark. The plastic piping doesn’t help.
FAU’s were awfully awful.
Cruella “The Ville”. Weak sauce.
But do we judge OU worse because their regular unis are so glorious??
Absolutely.
In fact, I had Bowling Green/Kent State as my &1 until I saw WVU/OU. I expect this kind of dreck from the MAC, not from two big time schools with classic looks.
Kentucky debuted all-grey uniforms with blue helmets vs Alabama yesterday (image in the tweet):
link
Some quick hits:
First time UK had worn light grey since 2015 (we wore anthracite from 2016-2022)
First time breaking out the new grey jerseys or pants (debuted a new uniform set this season)
First time I think we’ve worn all-grey unis with blue helmets since the 2015 Georgia game. We typically paired grey jerseys with blue pants and vice versa in the old uni set that last featured light grey.
Maybe it’s the lighting- no, it’s the uniforms, but I think San Diego State/Colorado State should be the &1. Those colors are just too dark.
And West Virginia looked perfectly fine, but they shouldn’t be dragged down with Oklahoma’s University of Houston Tribute set.
This may have been the worst looking overall week of the season. So much dreary gray, bfbs, and s&s camo nonsense. Those things Louisville and Oklahoma wore were abominations. But on the good side, I agree Syracuse – Pitt looked great, Miami – FSU looked like Miami – FSU, Arkansas – Auburn was a beauty, and I actually love Clemson in purple (but with white or orange pants).
And what is going on with Kansas? This is the second time this season they’ve worn the red jerseys from their old set. I don’t recall any team introducing (really nice) new uniforms and then continuing to mix in the (crappy) old ones. It’s weird.
I don’t know about Kansas *specifically,* but it’s very likely their contract with adidas stipluates they *only* get three new uniforms this season (they introduced new white, blue and black). Other schools have riders like this in their contracts as well. Unlike the pros, who PAY Nike to provide their uniforms, colleges actually get paid to wear a certain brand (in return for lots of perks, like exclusive branding rights, tickets to games, etc.). So, I am going to assume Kansas had to choose between a black alternate or a red alternate this season. It’s quite possible they will receive new red uniforms next season.
Kansas is currently in the middle of a 14 year contract agreement with adidas. link.
I’m sure somewhere in that contract there is a stipulation about the number of times the school can request new uniform designs and how many different options/upgrades are available.
Ohio State and Colorado got gray right.
Another team got it horribly wrong
In my haste to finish last night before my battery died, I failed to mention that Army got it really right and Miami OH got it really wrong.
Love the Cadet look for Army.
All grey uniforms suck
Lions and Chargers both wearing white pants today. Unacceptable.
I can accept Detroit wearing them with the new blue helmet. Never with the silver one.
Chargers, no matter what color helmet you wear…Never. Wear. White. Pants.
Absolutely. The Chargers shouldn’t even have the option of white pants.
FSU/Miami looked gorgeous as always. Plus the final score was amazing.
sdsu vs csu is soo nice.
Yesterday looked more like Halloween than two weeks ago. So much BFBS/GFGS. Yikes.
Not a good looking weekend at all. It bolsters my notion that today’s players love the leotard mono look, preferably in all white or all black with as little details or contrasting color accents as possible. I will have to wait for the next generation who may long for more colorful uniforms.
Yes first time Maryland wore white helmets this season